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Auntie Ma Liu and Granny Wang Si stared wide-eyed at the scene before them, unable to decide whether to feel joy or worry.
The joyful part was that those little thugs had finally met their match today. Not only had they been beaten senseless by Wang Man, but they also had to work to pay off their debt.
The worrying part was the fear that they might come back for revenge. Wang Man was just a slip of a girl—could she really stand up to them if they retaliated?
But no matter how they looked at it, things had already come to this. There was nothing more they could say.
They could only hope that Wang San had some sense and remembered that Wang Man was his Wife.
When the time came, he’d better defend her more.
The crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion finally dispersed.
Auntie Ma Liu didn’t know what to say. After hesitating for a long while, she finally spoke up:
“Manya, you beat them up like that—what if they come back for revenge? What will you do then?”
Wang Man didn’t even open her eyes.
“Revenge? Just them?
Don’t worry. They wouldn’t dare.”
What she didn’t say was that even if they did come for revenge, she wouldn’t be afraid.
Even with her head still not fully healed, dealing with a few of them was more than manageable.
Auntie Ma Liu shook her head, then groped her way into the kitchen, intending to tidy up a bit and cook the wild vegetables.
Suddenly, she came running out in a flurry.
“Manya, there are still two eggs here!”
Wang Man nodded.
“They’re what they left behind.”
To be exact, they hadn’t even finished eating them before she caught them in the act. They didn’t get the chance to finish.
Wang Man reached out and took one, saying,
“You try it too. See how it tastes.
If it’s good, we can make this and sell it—it might earn us a bit of money for oil and salt.
Otherwise, there’s no way we’ll survive this winter.”
Auntie Ma Liu sighed.
“Manya, why don’t you just go back?
Look at this home of ours—we’ve got nothing.
And Ah San is still so useless, always messing around outside, never caring about the family at all…”
“Enough, enough. Don’t bring this up again. I’ve said I won’t go back. This is my home now.”
Wang Man interrupted her, clearly annoyed at the topic.
Seeing her irritation, Auntie Ma Liu didn’t dare say anything more.
She was afraid that if she talked too much, Wang Man would get angry again.
And when Wang Man got angry, she hit people.
So she obediently ate the egg in her hand, and afterward even smacked her lips with lingering satisfaction.
“Manya, how did you cook this egg? It’s really tasty—has that crispy bottom flavor, and it’s salty too.”
Wang Man chuckled.
“If you want to eat it in the future, I’ll make it for you.”
“Huh?”
Auntie Ma Liu was momentarily stunned.
“It’s tasty, sure—but you can’t eat it often!”
Eggs were precious—one cost a full wen coin. She simply couldn’t afford it.
She had just eaten two wen worth and was already starting to regret it.
By the time dusk fell, Wang San and the others finally returned.
They looked completely disheveled.
Anyone who knew the situation would understand they’d been up in the mountains chopping firewood. Anyone who didn’t might have thought they’d been attacked by wild animals.
As soon as they got back, they collapsed on the ground, panting heavily like dogs—only thing missing was their tongues hanging out.
Looking at the firewood they’d brought back, it was all thin, spindly branches that burned out quickly.
At least they hadn’t tried to skimp or sneak anything—on that point, they had followed instructions.
But in terms of quantity, it was far from enough.
Wang Man raised an eyebrow, displeased.
“You think this is enough to pay off your debt?”
The few of them looked guilty. Of course they knew it wasn’t enough.
But there was nothing they could do—keeping their lives intact was more important.
They were lazy by nature, and suddenly having to hike up a mountain to chop wood was already frustrating enough.
There were plenty of dead trees on the mountain, but they couldn’t manage to chop them.
Add to that the tools being less than ideal, and it made everything even harder.
To work off their debt—and avoid another beating from Wang Man—they gritted their teeth, worked for a while, then rested a bit.
By the end of it, their hands were covered in blood blisters.
Thirsty, hungry, and nearly half-dead, they swore—never again.
No, to be precise: never again would they sneak into Wang San’s house for food.
As the sky darkened further, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and pick up the pace.
They knew the mountain was dangerous—especially at night, when it became even more so.
If they didn’t want to spend the night up there, they had to finish chopping and get out fast.
But of course—speak of the devil.
From the distant Xianfeng Mountain came a series of chilling wolf howls.
Even though it was far away, the howls rang out clear and sharp.
It scared them so badly they nearly wet themselves, fleeing in a panic—stumbling, crawling, and scrambling all the way down.
Wasn’t it good to just stay alive?
Who in their right mind would seek death?
And those wild beasts—just the thought of those razor-sharp teeth sinking into flesh was enough to make their legs go weak.
And then there was that horrifying thought—being eaten alive, bit by bit, while watching it happen with eyes wide open. Just imagining it sent chills down their spines.
Fortunately, even in their panic, they remembered to drag the chopped firewood back with them.
Otherwise, they really wouldn’t have had any excuse left.
Wang San swallowed hard and tried to negotiate with Wang Man.
“Man’niang, could you let this slide just once?
You don’t know—we heard wolves up there. Scared us half to death.”
Wang Man’s eyes flickered.
“You ran into wolves?”
If that was true, she really couldn’t let them go back up the mountain.
Judging by the look of them, they didn’t seem to be lying.
Wang San nodded eagerly.
“We saw them—no, no, we heard them. We heard wolves howling.”
“You heard howling?
Just that and it scared you this much?
Aren’t you all supposed to be little gangsters?
I heard you even go around picking fights sometimes. What, did you pee your pants the moment you got up there?”
Wang Man scoffed. She’d thought they’d actually encountered wolves—turns out they had just heard them.
Forget the mountains—you could hear wolf howls right here in the village from time to time. What was the big deal?
Seemed like Wang San and his gang might call themselves troublemakers, but they weren’t exactly brave.
Hearing Wang Man’s mocking tone, the group all looked away in silence, eyes averted, saying nothing.
Especially Wang San—his expression was particularly guilty and uneasy.
Wang Man nudged him with her foot.
“Wang San, don’t tell me… you really did wet your pants?”
“No, no! No one wet their pants!
That time—well, I was still young then! It was the first time I ever ran into something like that!”
After that incident, they never dared to hang around with that gang again.
Otherwise, things wouldn’t have turned out this badly.
Realizing he had let something slip, Wang San quickly shut his mouth tight.
Wang Man grinned, nearly bursting out laughing.
“So you did, huh?
Look at you bunch of cowards. Can’t even beat me, and you call yourselves little gangsters?
At best, you’re just a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing loafers.”
After thinking for a moment, she added,
“Fine. I’ll be merciful and let you off this once.
You don’t have to chop firewood anymore. Tomorrow, go to the riverside and collect stones about this big for me instead.”
Hearing the first part, the group all let out a sigh of relief.
But the next part? Not so good.
“It was just a few eggs!
Why won’t this ever end?”
Zhu Yazi wanted to protest, but lacking the guts, he could only grumble in frustration.
Wang Man found it amusing.
“Exactly—a few eggs, right? Then why haven’t you paid them back?
If you can’t even settle a debt over a few eggs, what kind of gangsters are you supposed to be?”
Zhu Yazi opened his mouth to retort, but Wang San quickly tugged at him.
“That’s enough. Just shut up already.”
He was sure that if Wang Man got annoyed again, she might really beat them up one more time.
“Man’niang, is there anything to eat? We’re starving—we don’t even have the strength to move.”
Wang Man, for once, didn’t make things difficult.
“There are wild greens in the kitchen. Go cook them yourselves.
Tonight, all of you are staying here. Tomorrow, go collect stones for me all day. Once that’s done, your debt’s settled.”